Customer service: the bad and the good

[beely]

Perhaps the thread title should have been "The terrible and the excellent"

I broke the plastic lens of the power on/off light on my EBS Reidmar.
I tried to remove it by unscrewing the metal retaining ring but the whole unit spun round and I think I severed the connecting wires.
When I contacted the shop where I bought it they were, how shall I put it, less than enthusiastic about sourcing a replacement for me.
I won’t name the shop or list the reasons (excuses) for being “ahem” unable to help.
The phone call was terminated with the resolve never to buy anything from them again. I suppose the hole in their foot will heal sometime.

Anyway, on to the good bit.

I did a bit of checking to find out who the main dealers for EBS are, and one of the names listed was Bass Direct.
I phoned them and spoke to Marcus.
He said that yes, they could help and asked me to email a picture of the damage along with the serial number and he would get back to me.
This he did, the same day, and gave me the phone number of Sound Technology in Hertfordshire, who I duly contacted. The gentleman I spoke was called Ranko and he said it would not be a problem to supply a replacement.
He aplogised profusely that there would be a delay of a few days, as the part would have to come from Sweden.
Not a problem: the amp still works.

Ranko phoned me yesterday to get my address as the part was now in stock.
It arrived in the post today.

Now, from the outset I had been expecting to pay for this, as it was me who broke it.
I’m not a customer of Bass Direct, well not on this occasion, but they went out of their way to help me.
Sound Technology/EBS were under no obligation to supply this part free-of-charge, but they did.
I can only conclude that they have better business heads than the staff at the shop I bought the amp from.

This whole episode throws into doubt the effectiveness of “buying local”.
I can’t really see the point of making the effort to visit a shop to make a face-to-face purchase if you have to eventually go to an online retailer to get things fixed.
I realise that this is probably not a typical occurrence and there are many shops that provide excellent after-sales service.

Ultimately, I’m happy that I have the part and can have it fitted by a local amp tech.
It is also likely that if I feel the need to have a new bass amp, EBS will definitely be in the reckoning.

Sorry if I have rambled a bit.
I feel much better now.

[Graham]

I had some great customer service from EBS, it's also well worth getting in contact with them directly in Sweden if you have an issue.

I had an issue with a second hand Bass IQ pedal, emailed them and ended up getting a really quick response from the Technical Director, who's also one of the owners of the company.

I'm a big fan of EBS kit, and it's good to know the support's there if you need it.

[TheGreek]

I, too, have had some great service from [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Sound Technology, who aren't that far from me in Hertfordshire. I had an issue with not being able to find a (blown) fuse in my HD350 - not only did they explain where it was, how to change it but also sent 5x replacement fuses - all FOC.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I love great customer service...[/font][/color]

[discreet]

Nice. If more companies went the extra mile, UK plc might be in a better state.
Oh wait, it's a Swedish company.

[TimR]

I worked for a Swedish company. It was all about customer service. Make the customer feel valued and he'll return.

We got taken over by a French company, they have a similar ethic but it's not so well implemented.

[smaz]

I phoned my local music shop, an Orange dealer, about getting my Tiny Terror repaired after it fell out of the van on tour. They gave me the number of a guy they recommend who's in the area, who'll be much cheaper/better than going down the official routes. Very happy! Whilst I've bought a lot of stuff from them in the past, they didn't know that over the phone - I could have been anyone.

[RhysP]

The very worst customer service I've ever had was from EBS & their UK distributor, who both refused to have anything to do with repairing my Gorm combo even though it was still under warranty.

[SpondonBassed]

I wanted to modify my Ashdown Toneman 300 combo by installing a pair of side handles. I messaged them from their website to ask if they could advise. A few days later I got an email asking for my address so that they could post me a detail drawing AND some handles! I rang to pass on my details and asked their correspondent how much I owed them.

The reply, in a fine Sheffield accent, was "Nowt mate, we're happy to help."

Lovely.

[4stringslow]

[quote name='beely' timestamp='1463770802' post='3054010']
This whole episode throws into doubt the effectiveness of “buying local”.
I can’t really see the point of making the effort to visit a shop to make a face-to-face purchase if you have to eventually go to an online retailer to get things fixed.
I realise that this is probably not a typical occurrence and there are many shops that provide excellent after-sales service.
[/quote]

I don't think customer service is relative to local shops or online in any way. Either can be good or bad.

Nice story though, and shows that excellent service is out there somewhere.

[barneyg42]

Due to a supply issue at Status I went to Stringbusters for a set of Double ball end 5-string Elites. Ordered online and waited, and waited!!! Phoned up over a week later to be told that even though the strings showed in stock they actually weren't in the delivery but they failed to notice. Then the chap who I spoke said his colleague was supposed to phone me to tell me what had happened. This did not happen. So all bad so far but then the chap said he send me a La Bella set at no extra charge, considerably more expensive! So overall 2/3rds bad and 1 3rd good. It wouldn't put me off using them again but I'd be more inclined to phone and get the stock checked there and then. Nice strings btw, prefer Hotwires though!

[Dom in Dorset]

Laney- I needed a replacement speaker, my email was answered within the hour , replacement arrived the next day and cost me about a quarter of what I had expected to pay.
Line 6 - attempting or order a part for a pedal board for a customer at work. I call the service department several times, I eventually get through to a miserable disinterested man who tells me I have to fill in their on line request form. He sends me the form , most of which isn't relevant to this case, I fill it in as best I can and return it. A few days pass , I call again several times nobody answers, time passes, I wait...I tell the customer we are unable to get the part , time passes...two years in fact...maybe they aren't interested?

Edited May 22, 2016 by Dom in Somerset